Chapter 7

A story about genetically programmed soul mates

Quinn watched Rachel leave. The tiny brunette didn't even respond to the blonde. She simply left. Quinn wasn't sure if she was relieved or hurt by the brunette's response. Either way, she had dealt with the problem and based on the brunettes reaction it wasn't going to come back again.

She drove home that night in silence. In fact, the rest of her night was silent. Her mind was too loud for her to focus on anything around her. She thought about Rachel's face, they way the girl tried to comfort her even though they were complete strangers. The way she questioned her motives and was completely right about them. Except Quinn didn't want to be with Finn, she needed to be with him.

The guilt began to set in when Quinn remembered Brittany's words. She knew that her best friend would not approve of the way she had handled the situation. Scaring Rachel off was the last thing Brittany would have wanted and she could imagine the blonde's response. 'Quinn...I don't want you to get sick...you need to go fix it." 

Quinn lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. She felt like she should cry or scream or something, but she was numb. She couldn't feel anything, yet she was feeling too many things at one time. She was feeling proud of herself for doing what her father would have wanted her to but she was also feeling shame for never having the courage to take what she wanted for herself. She was feeling relief that she wouldn't have to deal with Rachel anymore, but she was feeling regret because she would never know the girl she was meant to love. She was mostly just feeling numb because she was Quinn Fabray and she was only supposed to feel what she was told to feel. She was only supposed to be what her parents wanted her to be and she was only supposed to do what would bring pride to her family name.

Quinn finally took her eyes off the ceiling at nine o'clock and decided it was time to do her homework and shower. She mindlessly read pages and filled in answers to the countless worksheets she had been assigned. When she was done with that she went to the shower. When she looked at herself in the mirror while she waited for the shower to warm up, all she could see was her blonde hair, her pretty face and her Cheerio's uniform. What else was there? There wasn't anything. Nothing but status and money. If Quinn lost all of her money and the support of her family she would be nothing. She would just be Quinn. Lima loser, Quinn. She couldn't bear to see herself stuck here with most of her senior class. She was going to get out of Lima and make something of herself...mate or not.

When she finally decided the shower was warm enough, she washed her body and got ready for bed. It was twelve am when she finally pulled the covers over her. She lay her head down and stared at the ceiling again, waiting for sleep to take over her mind. She thought about what tomorrow would be like. Would Rachel try to talk to her again? Would glee club be awkward? Would her wrist burn as badly as it did today? So many questions filled her head but the loudest one was 'Will I be able to keep myself from falling for her?'

XXXX

Quinn woke up the next morning feeling confident. She zipped up her Cheerio's uniform, grabbed an apple from the kitchen and left for school. When she got there she went straight to the locker room for Cheerio's practice. Santana and Brittany were already there putting on their practice uniforms. "How many times have I told you two to wait until after practice to do that?" Quinn chuckled as she put her duffle bag in her locker.

"Hey, can you really blame us, Q? If you'd go after that hot little brunette you got, you'd understand," Santana shot back.

Quinn glared at Santana and slammed her locker shut. Santana put her hands up defensively "Or not, I completely understand," Santana smirked. "You know I'm just pulling your leg. But seriously it is a shame you can't get with that. I mean I could take her for a test run if you want. Me and Britts could teach her all the tricks before she gets to you."

"Santana, the answer is still and always will be no." Quinn rolled her eyes and walked out of the locker room leaving a smug Santana and snickering Brittany behind her. "Idiots," Quinn said under her breath as she walked away.

When she got out to the field, Sue was already in the bleachers with her megaphone. Quinn ignored her; she didn't need any drama with Sue today. She was having a good day so far and didn't need it ruined by Sue's psychotic requests.

Quinn led the warm ups and the first couple of routines they were going to be using to compete at nationals this year. As usual Sue called them wimpy babies and sloppy midgets, but Quinn ignored her insults. She knew the Cheerio's were great, so Sue could suck it today.

Quinn was dreading homeroom. Even as she walked to her locker she was could feel the low burning of her skin around her sign and she knew Rachel would be sitting in the same exact desk with that same exact bright eyed look on her face. Luckily Finn was waiting at Quinn's locker, so at least she wouldn't have to worry about her talking to him. "Well look who remembered to walk me to homeroom today," Quinn swung her locker open and handed Finn her books.

Finn smiled his dopey-crooked smile down at Quinn, "Sorry, babe, you know I didn't mean anything by it."

Quinn smiled up at him and gave him a quick peck to the cheek. "I know. It's okay, I forgive you. This time." Finn's face fell and Quinn smiled to herself knowing that Finn would never let her walk alone again. She walked away and Finn followed.

As they approached the classroom, Quinn's wrist began to burn again and she knew Rachel was there. When she turned into the doorway of the class, the brunette was sitting with her hands folded on top of the desk and a smile on her face. "Good morning, Finn. It's nice to see you again."

Finn nodded at Rachel and walked to the back of the room with Quinn to take their regular seats. Quinn glared at her boyfriend but he simply shrugged his shoulders. He didn't see anything wrong with talking to Rachel, but apparently his girlfriend thought otherwise.

Quinn tried to ignore Rachel, but the burning in her wrist was making that a difficult task. Every couple of minutes she would look over at Rachel willing her to look back at her so she could at least send her a glare but Rachel never did.

When class finally ended, Quinn sighed in relief as Rachel strode out of the class. The burning in her skin slowly became less severe and she rubbed her wrist and cursed the letters that stared back at her. "You okay, babe?" Finn asked picking up Quinn's books.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just go." Finn walked Quinn to her class, gave her a quick peck, and walked to his own class. They went through the same ritual between every period. Quinn mainly did it to keep up appearance while Finn did it because he was a genuinely nice guy. Quinn appreciated the effort but it never did much for her. But she knew would much rather have Finn's sloppy kisses on her cheek than Rachel's.

Quinn enjoyed the Rachel-free afternoon she was having. She went through all of her classes with no sign of the brunette. Their little chat yesterday must have been more effective than she thought. She hadn't felt so much as a slight tingle in her wrist since homeroom and it brought a small smile to her face. She just had to get through glee club and she would be home free.

As she walked to the choir room, she felt the burning come back; why was Rachel early to everything? Quinn walked into the choir room and sure enough, Rachel was sitting in the front row right next to Finn again. Quinn growled and stormed towards the brunette, "What did I tell you?! Stay away from me, that means stay away from him too!" Quinn grabbed Finn's wrist and pulled him away from her. "Keep your man hands away from us, okay? I thought we had an understanding."

Rachel looked up at Quinn with a gentle smile on her face and it only made Quinn more angry. "I'm sorry, Quinn. Finn and I were just discussing how he could widen his range. I'm sorry if I intruded on your territory again." Rachel rose from her seat and motioned towards the chair for Quinn to sit down. "He's all yours."

Rachel climbed up to the top riser and sat down, still smiling. Quinn turned around and scowled up at her. The burning in her wrist was more intense than ever and she wasn't sure if it was because Rachel was so close to her or if it was because she was so angry. Either way it only made her anger spin even further out of control.

Mr. Shue walked into the classroom and clapped his hands as he always did. "Alright class! Did anyone find a song about courage yet?" When no one responded he pulled out a hat. "That's okay. We are going to partner up to try and find some inspiration!"

When Mr. Shue began pulling names out of the hat Quinn felt a bead of sweat drip down her back. She was praying to every god ever worshipped that she wouldn't be paired with Rachel. "Tina and Mike, Santana and Kurt, Brittany annnnd Artie, Quinn and Mercedes," Quinn let her body relax relieved, "And last but not least... Finn and Rachel."

Quinn stiffened at the last two names. "Mr. Shue, that can't be right...you can't pair them up," Quinn argued.

Mr. Shue put the hat away and shrugged his shoulders, "The hat has spoken, Quinn. I'm sorry." Quinn crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat. "Alright everyone get into partners and find a private space. I want to hear some good song choices."

Everyone split up throughout the school, Quinn and Mercedes went to the Spanish room. Mercedes talked about what song she was thinking about choosing and how she needed to show up Rachel because she was the only true diva in the club. Quinn sat and pretended to listen. While the burning had stopped she still couldn't stop thinking about Rachel. She knew that something bad was going to happen with Rachel and Finn alone. She could feel it. She didn't want to admit it but she needed him; now more than ever. She couldn't have him being distracted by Rachel.

"Quinn, what song are you going to sing?" Mercedes interrupted Quinn's thoughts and when the blonde turned to the girl sitting next to her and realized she didn't know the answer to her question, she scowled.

"I don't know yet. I'm waiting for the right song to come along I guess. I don't really need courage anyway. I have nothing to be afraid of." Quinn shrugged and went back to her thoughts. She could hear the hum of Mercedes talking again but she ignored the girl. She didn't have the patience for smalltalk.

When they finally got back to the choir room Mr. Shue told them to work hard on their songs and be ready to perform by Friday. Quinn would have a song, eventually.

When Quinn finally got Finn away from Rachel they began walking out to the parking lot to Quinn's car, "So how did it go?" Finn asked her as they walked out to the parking lot.

"I still don't have a song but I will by Friday. I'm not worried."

"I know you'll do great, babe," Finn said as he squeezed himself into the small VW. Quinn always found it amusing how Finn didn't fit in her car but tried anyway. His long legs would always get squished by the dashboard and he had to tilt his head a little to the side. He was just too tall for his own good. "Comfy?" She asked starting the car.

"Of course," He smiled back.

As she drove him home, she noticed that he kept scratching his arm. It was quickly turning red, "Finn stop scratching you are going to break through the skin." He stopped for a while but as they pulled up to his house he began to scratch again. "Finn!" Quinn parked the car and reached over to grab Finn's arm. "What did you do?" She looked down at his arm and saw the initials starting to form. 'RB' Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she saw the initials.

He was with Rachel and now his sign was coming in. How was this even possible. She had never seen anything like it. "Finn…? What is that?"

He shrugged, "My sign, it just kind of happened. I was kind of hoping they would be your initials but I guess not. We don't have to break up though. Don't worry." He smiled his crooked-dopey smile and Quinn forced a tight smile back.

"I..okay. I'll see you tomorrow?" She had never said it as a question, but now she wasn't sure.

"Of course." He gave her one last peck on the cheek and got out of the car.

Quinn drove home that night in a panic. Not only was she not able to be with her mate, but now her boyfriend had Rachel's initials too? How was this even possible? It had to be a mistake. It had to be...she didn't know. She had no answers for what was happening to her. Her life had gone from a scene of perfection to a terrible mess in only two days.

She couldn't imagine how things could get any worse, but she was sure they could. She was positive this chain of unfortunate events was not over. All she knew was she had to keep herself and Finn as far away from Rachel as possible.

Rachel had already stolen her chance at love, at happiness. She was not going to let Rachel steal the only thing that was going right for her right now.